Non-School Nottingham blog: news & upcoming events

Book sale, books from 10p, Gedling, 12 days in April & May

Ex Libris Masked Book Sale, for 2 local charities.  Bargain books, child-friendly, includes a play train & ticket office in the garden.  (Not specifically a home ed thing.)

Dates – three long weekends in April & beginning of May, 2022.
Friday 15 April, Saturday 16, Sunday 17, Monday 18.
Friday 22 April, Saturday 23, Sunday 24, Monday 25.
Friday 29 April, Saturday 30, Sunday 1 May, Monday 2.

(plus potential additional one-off days: “If you are immunocompromised or have any other concerns, please ask us to book you in on a separate day from everyone else.”)

Time:  10am to 6pm, drop-in.

Age range:  All ages.

Venue:  16 Vernon Avenue, Gedling, Nottingham, NG4 3FX.

Area:  South side of Gedling, north side of Carlton.

Price:  Free admission. Books from 10p each. “As we open at Easter, a Gedling supporter has made 40 Easter gift bags for the under-12s, which we’ll be giving away starting on April 17th.  First come, first served.”

Booking:  No need to book.  They can’t take cards, so bring cash if you might want to buy books.

Covid precautions: please see description below.

If you enjoy your first visit, it may be worth coming back another day as well, because they don’t have room to put all the books out at once, so as some sell, they’ll get more out.

Booksale flyer, showing the same info that's in the blog post.
Booksale flyer, with text as in blog post.
About 100 children's books, mostly the skinny picture-book kind, shown end-on in a crate.
A colourful play train (one engine, one carriage which would seat four small children) made partly of treetrunks and partly of flat material, on a sandy base. In the background is a tiny station platform. It's actually in the garden of the people who run the Ex Libris booksales, and is known as the Ex Libris Express.

Our 14th sale, and maybe the last ever!

We have every non-fiction subject under the sun, including a good local section. Our fiction includes: modern, classic, unusual, crime and science fiction. There are all kinds of books for children. Our collectable books are at lower prices than on-line. There’s also the odd really weird book that you wouldn’t believe could or maybe should exist.

LOW PRICES from 10p.

You are invited to bring a tin of vegetarian food for Netherfield Food Bank.

Covid precautions:

We have to print this in advance, so can’t predict the situation at booksale time. We want to keep everyone safe.

FFP2 or FFP3 masks will be required throughout the sale for those aged 12+. (We may have some for sale for people who forget. If you are medically exempt, please contact us beforehand.)

If you can do a lateral flow test before visiting, thank you. Hand sanitiser will be available. We will ensure good ventilation. Some areas may have restrictions on the number of people in them at a time.

If you can come at a less busy time, please do (e.g. 5-6pm; Mondays).

If you are immunocompromised or have any other concerns, please ask us to book you in on a separate day from everyone else.

Contact info:
email: boraxwoman-exlibris at yahoo.co.uk
Facebook: ExLibrisMasked
Twitter: @ExLibrisMasked
www.maskedbooksellers.org.uk

Map showing 16 Vernon Avenue:

Bigger map showing 16 Vernon Avenue

Travel / parking:

Buses are frequent – 24, 25, 44 to Main Road/Westdale Lane (Co-op) or 100 to Ousebridge Drive.  There is plenty of on-street parking, but please be considerate of our neighbours, who put up with this sale year after year.  There is a free car park at the top of Ranmoor Road (get a ticket).  And you can park your bicycle in our back garden.

Access:

We are child-friendly.  We are mostly, but not wholly, wheelchair accessible, and will help with accessibility wherever we can.

Not Back To School Picnic, early September, Nottingham area

One afternoon in early September 2019, there will be a Not Back To School Picnic. This is an informal community meetup for play and chat. Newcomers are very welcome.

"Not Back To School Picnic". The words appear against a background of green grass. "Not" is at an angle, as if added after "Back To School". Picnic is in sky blue. The dots of the letter i are in yellow like the sun.

If you’re a new home edder or potential future home edder, and you want to find out when & where it is, you could:

More about the picnic

People taking part will bring their own food to a park. The children will play while the adults chat. (Or sometimes the children chat and the adults play!)

If you’re new, we’ll try to introduce you to people with similar age children or similar interests, or people from your geographical area.

This year, we hope to include the parachute game which has become popular at the “teens-ish meetups”, enabling any shy young people to get to know each other a bit without having to talk.

Teens-ish meetups, Nottingham, typically one a month

For teens-ish non-schoolers who’d specially like to meet others of similar age.

Update October 2021: We’ve resumed! Only difference since before the pandemic is we now use masks while playing the parachute game – to be welcoming to people with concerns about covid, and just to be on the safe side. So don’t forget your mask. (Unless you’re exempt for disability reasons.)

Date:  currently usually a Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Update: could be any day Monday to Friday. (And we try to vary the days, as different people have other commitments on different days.)

Time:  1.30pm to 3.30pm, or up till teatime depending on weather & what everyone’s doing 🙂 Update: now sometimes doing 2pm, as that works better for some people. (Or occasionally we do one which starts in the late morning instead.)

Venue:  a Nottingham park.

Price:  Free.

Age range:  Primarily 12 to 17, and see further info.

Bright yellow text says "Teens-ish" meetup. The background is green grass.

Frequently Asked Questions

What about 11-year-olds?  What about 19-year-olds?

There’s no strict age limit;  it’s mostly about wanting the teenager-ish hanging-out flavour.  So even a 10-year-old could join in if that’s what they’re looking for. 

Can younger siblings tag along?

Yes, that’s fine – it’s just that the focus will be on the older ones, and the younger ones will be expected to not get too much in the way of that.

Is it open to new people?

Yes, any home edders are very welcome, as well as people seriously considering it for their family.  Please do come along!  It’s a good opportunity to dip your toe into the local networks.

Can teens come along by themselves?

Yes – some have. 

Can I drop off my teen(s), go to do errands, and come back later?

Usually that would work fine, yes.  Unless your errands take a very long time or the weather gets bad, it’s quite likely that a good number of people would be staying on till whenever you’d be back.  Whether you want to do it like that is basically between you and your young person, and any other parents you enlist to keep an eye.

Can parents come along by themselves?

Yes – parents are welcome to drop in with or without their children, and take the opportunity to chat to the other parents.  If you’re at the “considering and finding out about home ed” stage, this is a lovely meetup to visit.

What if it rains on the day?

If it’s really wet, we’re quite likely to postpone to another day.  If it’s just drizzly, probably some people will still want to go. 

How do I find out the date and place?

There’s now an email announcements list which is specifically for organising this and similar events, for Nottingham non-school teens. (It’s only for occasional announcements of practical news – not a discussion list.)

To get on that list, if you’re not already on one of the main lists or groups where local home ed families plan things, please email teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk, and introduce yourself.

Would we need to book in advance? 

It’s not essential.  Typically there’s an announcement of a possible date, and then the event will only be confirmed and go ahead if a reasonable number of people say they’d go.  So if you’re pretty sure you’re going this time, it’s useful for the event organisation if you say so.  But there are often a few extra people turning up on the day as well.

What should we bring?

Things for being comfortable whatever the weather is 🙂 E.g. water, sun cream, warm &/or cool clothes, snacks, maybe a hot drink in a thermos, waterproof things to sit on, and/or an old towel to wipe any rain off damp benches.

Also, a way to write down other people’s contact details, in case you meet people you want to keep in touch with. 

Description of a typical meetup

As of mid-2019, we’ve evolved a pattern along the lines of…

As people arrive, we encourage everyone to wear a name label unless they specially don’t want to, as it helps with learning names and not having to worry about remembering them.

Typically there might be a dozen or so local home edders in the teens-ish age range, as well as maybe a few younger siblings.

There will probably be a mix of people who have met before and people who haven’t.  There are usually a few autistic teens (though we can’t guarantee that).  We’ll try to be extra friendly if you don’t know anyone!

Soon after the official start time, the young people play a parachute game, where we call out things like “anyone wearing black” or “anyone who likes Harry Potter” or “anyone who owns more than 3 computer games”, and everyone who fit the category runs underneath the parachute and swaps places.

This game is a good one for people who feel shy, as it’s a way of getting to know everyone else a little bit without actually having to say any words. 

Then we go for a walk. This usually includes people mingling around a bit and chatting. Some young people get straight to talking with friends old & new; some prefer to walk together with their parent(s) till they settle in. Whatever they feel comfortable with is fine.

Some people leave at the end of the walk, or even part way through if they have to be somewhere else. 

Then we find a place that’s comfortable for parents to sit. Some people have brought drinks and food for this stage. Depending on where we are, this could be near a playground. (Yes the teens are not too cool to go on the playground still 🙂 )

Typically some of the young people will sit with their parents for part of the time & join in the general conversation, others will prefer to hang out & chat with each other.

On past occasions, some of us ended up not leaving till about 5pm or 6pm, though some had to go earlier, and in summer, it might even be later.

Access:  If you or your child has limited mobility/energy, social/sensory limitations or anything else that would affect your access to the event, feel free to give us a heads-up so we can take your needs into account when planning.  Either mention it on the lists/groups where the event’s being discussed, or email privately on teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.

Maths groups, Carlton, Mondays and Thursdays

Days:
Mondays key stage 3 and GCSE; 
Thursdays key stage 2.

Time:  Exact time depends on what group you’re in.

Area:  Carlton / NG4 area of Nottingham.

Age range:  8 to 16+.

Email:  Wendy Tebbatt, wendytebbatt at gmail dot com.

Booking:  Book in advance, pay on the day.

Maths groups for all the above ages.  Maximum of 4 in each group.

By former home ed mum who has taught within the home ed community for the past 25 years.

Words say: "Maths groups" in a greenish blue. Background has a sprinkling of mathematical symbols in a darker orange on a lighter orange background.

Travel: near 24 & 25 bus routes, Lilac Line.

Access info:

Fully experienced with autism and dyslexia.

Classes are downstairs.  I have a ramp and downstairs toilet but it isn’t fully wheelchair accessible.

Book sale, inc free books for children, Gedling, 8 days in April & May

Annual Ex Libris Masked Book Sale, for 3 charities.  Bargain books, child-friendly, includes cake, raffle, cards, poetry one day, and a play train & ticket office in the garden.  (Not specifically a home ed thing.)

Dates:
April 2019 – Friday 26, Saturday 27, Sunday 28, Monday 29.
May 2019 – Friday 3, Saturday 4, Sunday 5, Monday 6.

Time:  10am to 6pm, drop-in.

Age range:  All ages.

Venue:  16 Vernon Avenue, Gedling, Nottingham, NG4 3FX.

Area:  South side of Gedling, north side of Carlton.

Price:  Free admission, and each child can choose three free books.  After that, the books are still very cheap, e.g. many at 10p each.

Booking:  No need to book.  They can’t take cards, so bring cash if you might want to buy books or snacks.

If you enjoy your first visit, it may be worth coming back another day as well, because they don’t have room to put all the books out at once, so as some sell, they’ll get more out.

Eventbrite page with more details

A colourful play train (one engine, one carriage which would seat four small children) made partly of treetrunks and partly of flat material, on a sandy base. In the background is a tiny station platform. It's actually in the garden of the people who run the Ex Libris booksales, and is known as the Ex Libris Express.

This year, we’re particularly good on: science fiction; history (including military); crafts; psychology and psychotherapy; cake decorating – they’ve been reduced to 10p each; pets; children’s books.  We have so many children’s books that every child who visits can choose up to three free books from our special boxes, before even thinking about buying.

We have provided home-made cakes and bakes for many years, but this year is our first with a Café Manager.  Gabrielle is working really hard to make the café experience exceptional, and we do recommend that you stay for a drink and a snack – all for whatever donation you feel is right.  (All café donations go to our 3 charities too.)  Vegan and gluten-free treats will be available, but maybe not every day.

Map showing 16 Vernon Drive:

Bigger map showing 16 Vernon Drive

Travel / parking:

Buses are frequent – 24, 25, 44 to Main Road/Westdale Lane (Co-op) or 100 to Ousebridge Drive.  There is plenty of on-street parking, but please be considerate of our neighbours, who put up with this sale year after year.  There is a free car park at the top of Ranmoor Road (get a ticket).  And you can park your bicycle in our back garden.

Access:

We are child-friendly.  We are mostly, but not wholly, wheelchair accessible, and will help with accessibility wherever we can.

Teens-ish meetup, Nottingham, Wednesday 27 March

Date:  Wednesday 27 March 2019.

May be postponed if weather forecast changes too far in the direction of rainy!

Time:  1.30pm to 3.30pm, and probably some will stay on longer, depending on weather & what everyone’s doing 🙂

(Please note, that’s a slightly later meetup time than some previous ones.)

Venue:  a Nottingham park. We’re not announcing the meetup point in public, so please get onto one of the lists or groups where local home ed families plan things, or email (see below).

Price:  Free.

Age range:  Primarily 12 to 17, not minding if a few 11-year-olds or 18+ wanted to join in too.

If some families bring younger siblings along too, that’s fine – it’s just that the focus will be on the older ones, and the younger ones will be expected to not get too much in the way of that.

Parents at the “considering and finding out about home ed” stage are welcome to visit with or without their children, and take the opportunity to chat to the other parents.

Booking:  No need to book.  However, there will probably be some discussion on email & Facebook of who’s planning to come.

Bright yellow text says "Teens-ish" meetup. The background is green grass.

For young people who’d specially like to meet others of similar age!

We did a few of these meetups before.  Typically there might be a dozen or so local home edders in the teens-ish age range, as well as maybe a few younger siblings.

New families are very welcome.  There will probably be a mix of people who have met before and people who haven’t.  There are usually a few autistic teens (though we can’t guarantee that).  We’ll try to be extra friendly if you don’t know anyone!

As people arrive, we encourage everyone to wear a name label unless they specially don’t want to, as it helps with learning names and not having to worry about remembering them.

Some of the teens-ish people might go off for a walk together while the parents stay back at base and have a chat.  Or this time, as it’s chillier weather, perhaps we’ll all go off for the walk.

Sometimes, we’ve played a parachute game where we call out things like “anyone wearing black” or “anyone who likes Harry Potter” or “anyone who owns more than 3 computer games”, and everyone who fit the category would run underneath the parachute and swap places.  This helped people to get past feeling shy.

On past occasions, some of us ended up not leaving till about 5pm, though some had to go earlier.

Things you might want to bring:  sun cream, warm clothes, snacks, water, maybe a hot drink in a thermos, and a way to write down other people’s contact details.  Also, waterproof things to sit on, and/or an old towel to wipe any rain off damp benches – though at the time of writing, the weather forecast is fine.

Access:  If you or your child has limited mobility/energy, social/sensory limitations or anything else that would affect your access to the event, feel free to give us a heads-up so we can take your needs into account when planning.  Either mention it on the lists/groups where the event’s being discussed, or email privately on teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.

Archery indoors, Radford, Thursdays till July

Not specifically for home edders, but proving popular!

Date:  Thursdays, except for 2 May & 23 May, till 25 July 2019.  No session Thursday 2 May due to the hall being in use for local elections.  Similarly no session Thursday 23 May due to European elections.

Time:  1.30pm to 2.30pm (in reality about 2.20pm).  You don’t get the whole hour with a bow to yourself – it’s people taking turns through the hour.  It’s OK to drop in part way through.

Age range:  Approx 5+, up to adults.  The younger ones use sucker arrows, the older ones use pointy arrows.  Toddlers can do archery, but need one-to-one supervision, not compatible with this session.  There’s a small green park with play equipment opposite the front door of the leisure centre. 

Venue:  the indoor hall at John Carroll Leisure Centre, Denman Street, Radford, Nottingham, NG7 3PS.

Area:  Radford – not far from the junction with Ilkeston Road and Lenton/Radford Boulevard.

Price:  Free!

Booking:  No need to book. 

Facebook page (although that only shows events up to 21 March, whereas the group leader has told us it will actually run till July)

Come along to our Community Archery sessions Thursday 1.30pm – 2.30pm and meet friendly instructor Mohammad! An opportunity to try Archery in a safe and fun environment, suitable for all ages and abilities, including complete beginners.

For more information, contact 07525 466781 or email
goga@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

FREE!

That phone number is Mohammad himself.  It’s a good idea to let him know if anyone has special needs, as it might affect what equipment he sets up. 

The email address is the people at the council side.  “goga” = “Get Out, Get Active”.  Their role was to book Mohammad and to publicise it, not directly to organise the session, so contacting him direct is probably a better way to get any other questions answered about what would happen on the day.

Map showing John Carroll Leisure Centre:

Bigger map showing John Carroll Leisure Centre

Nearest bus stop:  “Rothesay Avenue”, via any Pink Line bus, that is 28 , 30  or 31, or Trent Barton “two”.

Parking:  Leisure Centre car park can hold maybe 20-odd cars; there usually seems to be space.

Access:  There is a ramp up to the front door of the leisure centre, and then flat access to the hall.


Update about bringing your own equipment…  Someone had asked whether it’s OK to use your own bow if you happen to have one already.  The answer from Mohammad is:  maybe.  It depends on the type of bow, because some would be too powerful in comparison to the arrows & targets.  (The distance to the target is short, because of being in an indoor hall, and more powerful bows are better suited to longer distances.)  So you’re welcome to bring along what you’ve got, and then he would look at it and say yes or no to actually using it.  Or you could bring in a photo of your bow as a first step.

Teens-ish meetup, Nottingham, Monday 11 February

Update:  this meetup is CANCELLED – not enough families could make it this time.  We’ll look for a better date later in the year.


Date: Monday 11 February 2019.

May be postponed if weather forecast changes too far in the direction of rainy!

Time: 1.30pm to 3.30pm, and probably some will stay on longer, depending on weather & what everyone’s doing 🙂

(Please note, that’s a slightly later meetup time than the previous one.)

Venue: a Nottingham park. We’re not announcing the meetup point in public, so please get onto one of the lists or groups where local home ed families plan things, or email (see below).

Price: Free.

Age range: Primarily 12 to 17, not minding if a few 11-year-olds or 18+ wanted to join in too.

If some families bring younger siblings along too, that’s fine – it’s just that the focus will be on the older ones, and the younger ones will be expected to not get too much in the way of that.

Parents at the “considering and finding out about home ed” stage are welcome to visit with or without their children, and take the opportunity to chat to the other parents.

Booking: No need to book. However, there will probably be some discussion on email & Facebook of who’s planning to come.

Bright yellow text says "Teens-ish" meetup. The background is green grass.

For young people who’d specially like to meet others of similar age!

We did a few of these meetups before.  Typically there might be a dozen or so local home edders in the teens-ish age range, as well as maybe a few younger siblings.

New families are very welcome.  There will probably be a mix of people who have met before and people who haven’t.  There are usually a few autistic teens (though we can’t guarantee that).  We’ll try to be extra friendly if you don’t know anyone!

As people arrive, we encourage everyone to wear a name label unless they specially don’t want to, as it helps with learning names and not having to worry about remembering them.

Some of the teens-ish people might go off for a walk together while the parents stay back at base and have a chat.  Or this time, as it’s chillier weather, perhaps we’ll all go off for the walk.

One time, we played a parachute game where we called out things like “anyone wearing black” or “anyone who likes Harry Potter” or “anyone who owns more than 3 computer games”, and everyone who fit the category would run underneath the parachute and swap places.  This helped people to get past feeling shy.

On past occasions, some of us ended up not leaving till about 5pm, though some had to go earlier.

Things you might want to bring: warm clothes, snacks, water, maybe a hot drink in a thermos, and a way to write down other people’s contact details.  Also, waterproof things to sit on, and/or an old towel to wipe any rain off damp benches – though at the time of writing, the weather forecast is fine.

Access: If you or your child has limited mobility/energy, social/sensory limitations or anything else that would affect your access to the event, feel free to give us a heads-up so we can take your needs into account when planning. Either mention it on the lists/groups where the event’s being discussed, or email privately on teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.

Teens-ish meetup, Nottingham, Wednesday 2 January

Date: Wednesday 2 January 2019.

May be postponed if weather forecast changes to rainy!

Time: 1pm to 3pm, and probably some will stay on longer, depending on weather & what everyone’s doing 🙂

Venue: a Nottingham park. We’re not announcing the meetup point in public, so please get onto one of the lists or groups where local home ed families plan things, or email (see below).

Price: Free.

Age range: Primarily 12 to 17, not minding if a few 11-year-olds or 18+ wanted to join in too.

If some families bring younger siblings along too, that’s fine – it’s just that the focus will be on the older ones, and the younger ones will be expected to not get too much in the way of that.

Parents at the “considering and finding out about home ed” stage are welcome to visit with or without their children, and take the opportunity to chat to the other parents.

Booking: No need to book. However, there will probably be some discussion on email & Facebook of who’s planning to come.

Bright yellow text says "Teens-ish" meetup. The background is green grass.

For young people who’d specially like to meet others of similar age!

We did a few of these meetups before.  Typically there might be a dozen or so local home edders in the teens-ish age range, as well as maybe a few younger siblings.

New families are very welcome.  There will probably be a mix of people who have met before and people who haven’t.  There are usually a few autistic teens (though we can’t guarantee that).  We’ll try to be extra friendly if you don’t know anyone!

As people arrive, we encourage everyone to wear a name label unless they specially don’t want to, as it helps with learning names and not having to worry about remembering them.

Some of the teens-ish people might go off for a walk together while the parents stay back at base and have a chat.  Or this time, as it’s chillier weather, perhaps we’ll all go off for the walk.

One time, we played a parachute game where we called out things like “anyone wearing black” or “anyone who likes Harry Potter” or “anyone who owns more than 3 computer games”, and everyone who fit the category would run underneath the parachute and swap places.  This helped people to get past feeling shy.

On past occasions, some of us ended up not leaving till about 5pm, though some had to go earlier.

Things you might want to bring: warm clothes, snacks, water, maybe a hot drink in a thermos, and a way to write down other people’s contact details.  Also, waterproof things to sit on, and/or an old towel to wipe any rain off damp benches – though at the time of writing, the weather forecast is fine.

Access: If you or your child has limited mobility/energy, social/sensory limitations or anything else that would affect your access to the event, feel free to give us a heads-up so we can take your needs into account when planning. Either mention it on the lists/groups where the event’s being discussed, or email privately on teensishmeetup at non-school-nottingham dot org dot uk.